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Friday, December 31, 2010

Books: If you have older ones skip the 2010/2011 upgrades. If not then wait to buy the 2012 versions.

Equipment: Cameras are getting better and cheaper, scales are very cheap everywhere and nothing new stands out.

Now for my change finds. The graph below shows 48 world coins found from 16 countries which was the highest numbers in years. Canada also set a new record with 28 finds, which is more than one Canadian coin every two weeks. Adding U.S. finds I'm up to 80 significant finds which is also record setting.

Certain countries always come up. The United States, Canada, Bermuda, and Trinidad & Tobago. One country went missing for the first time, Great Britain. I always found British coins but this year not a pence. I know things are bad in England, I have not heard from James in a while, so travel and spending must not be a top priority.

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Some predict 2011 will see silver go for fifty dollars an ounce. I honestly did not think silver would hit thirty dollars an ounce in 2010. Predictions aside silver is always a good investment, I always liked it more than gold but not as much as platinum.

Finding a silver coin in my change happens once every year or two. Thanks to all the hoarders and roll hunters it becomes harder to find old American coins in decent condition. Finding this coin was a nice holiday treat.

This nice silver dime does not have the full torch lines. Full torch lines are when the vertical bands and horizontal bands are clear and you can see that each splits in half. This worn example only shows partial splitting. Full bands are worth much more and are the most desirable among collectors.

Also you can see the mintmark on the reverse after the word ONE. It is not ONED it is actually the Denver mintmark.

Let me add one more thing on the obverse of this coin is a W over an A to the right of the neck. Many people think it is a V or double V or something about World War II and victory. Nope, it is Adolph A. Weinman initials. He was the artist and sculptor who designed this coin.

Do you have a silver coin and want to know its value? Leave a comment / question and I will do my best to find out the price and history for you.

Sunday, December 26, 2010

Do you have a damaged coin and want to know its value? Leave a comment

Many people do not know that out current cents are made of a sandwich of copper which a yummy zinc center. So when the top layer is scraped off due to damage some people believe it is some type of error. Copper cents are not solid copper.

Clad cents have been around in the United States since 1982 but few people noticed the difference. Many people have been hoarding the older cents for there tiny copper value but for the most part those cents in your change are a good mix of full copper and clad cents.

At first glance it looks like an error but quickly you see the scrape marks where it has been filed. The zinc layer is nicely exposed. The design is gone. Were this an error it would either have the full design on the zinc it would be a missing clad layer error. Or it could be lamination where the copper peels off but then it would look like a piece is gone not scratched off.

That is right $0.00 because it can be refused as cash since it is very mutilated plus the exposed zinc will quickly start to react with the moist air and corrode. I will try to keep it in a cool dry place just as a reference coin but I would not be surprised if it goes bad over the summer.

Do you have damaged coins and want to know its value? Leave a comment/question and I will do my best to find out the price and history for you.

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Do you have a Ecuadorian coin and want to know its value? Leave a comment

Winter is here and the year is almost over so that means more foreign finds. These were not high in quality but they were given at the same time and were unexpected.

I think this is my first Ecuadorian find since starting the blog. Although there is a large Ecuadorian community in this area the coins are considered worthless in there country and are not kept or used often. Many young Ecuadorians I have met have never even seen most older coins of their countries. The centavos were devalued and by 2000 they reformed and the centavos got their value back but people were slow to accept the change. The bills were even worse off.

Saturday, December 18, 2010

Do you have a Caribbean coin and want to know its value? Leave a comment

Hooray for tourist, they are leaving some non-Canadian finds. It's been almost a year since my last East Caribbean States coin popped up in my change. Makes me wonder who leaves the warm Caribbean for cold New York City.

There is gap on the books between 2002 and 2007. Now this may be correct
but seeing how sometimes I find recent coins are not always listed it
may take a decade or longer for the books to catch up. Luckily this one
is listed but no mintage figure is given, I doubt it is rare.

Reverse:Sir Francis Drake's Golden Hind

Members of the East Caribbean States according to Wikipedia are as follows:

Granted some these places have issued their own coins but these coins as well as the older British Caribbean
Territories
(Eastern Group) coins and currency flow throughout the islands.
Trinidad & Tobago, British Virgin Islands, and Guyana also see these
coins often.

Here are the stats for this coin...Type / Country: 25 Cents / East Caribbean StatesYear: 2007Mintage: Not known.Metal: Copper-NickelValue:$0.25 in XF

Oh the IRB seen on the base of the queen's neck is the designer, Ian Rank-Broadley, initials.

Do you have a Caribbean coin and want to know its value? Leave a comment/question and I will do my best to find out the price and history for you.

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

The holiday season is in full swing and more finds are coming in my change. Paying cash is always good since you get change back and avoid the card fees. I have that old world mentality that if can not afford to pay it cash then you should not buy it.

This latest wheat cent find is common as most 1940s coins are since the war made governments churn out coins and made citizens hoard them. Even in higher grades war time coins were common. I recall hearing stories how people gave children brand new pennies for Christmas back in the day. Many of those kids would spend it immediately but others would keep them in the original Christmas cards or special gift box. I am pretty sure those cards are collectible but I do not know anything about them.

This coin was just found in my change but it is nice to think about what it may have gone through.

Saturday, December 11, 2010

Do you have a Canadian coins and want to know its value? Leave a comment

A trio of Canadian cents that I have found before and talked about before.
So...
Um...have you heard a bunch of brand new $100 bills had gutter fold errors so they are sifting through them before shipping them out.

Oh and silver got to $30 an ounce and is currently going down again. Yup.

They are scratched, dented, covered in verdigris and gum. At least I hope that is gum.

Tuesday, December 07, 2010

Again late posting but seeing how it is not 2011 yet I consider it a win. For the mere price of $125.80 you too can own coins that are very shiny.

The price breakdown:

2010 Proof Set

14-Coins

$31.95

2010 Silver Proof Set

14-Coins

$56.95

2010 Uncirculated Coin Set

28-Coins

$31.95

Shipping & Handling

$4.95

Well with these prices should the average collector bother with these? A two dollar increase in the proof and four dollar increases in the other two sets is just the beginning. Over the next few years the prices will be going up so starting a collection will be more difficult. Granted a little financial planning will having you rolling in unnecessary collectors items. Although missing a chance to buy them now means buying them from a third-party seller who will mark them up 50% to 500%.

Friday, December 03, 2010

Found these three nickels around the same time and since I'm trying to catch up with my finds before the year is over they are being grouped under one post. The thing I liked about nickels were that they remained unchanged for a long time. This meant older nickels could be found easier than most other coin types. When they redesigned the nickel in 2004 I became worried about hoarders and new collectors but since so many U.S. coins have been redesigned at this point most people still overlook their change.

With nickels except for the 40% silver ones from 1942-1945, the 1950-D, and 1939-D most are just low value. So it is easier to complete a nice set without spending much. Granted if you are like me and just pluck them out of your change it may take a while.

The 1939 nickel has the best look to it despite the 71 years spent in circulation. Of the two 1946 nickels one of them is very rusty. Okay maybe not true rust but nickel does corrode under certain conditions and this is only 75% nickel. Cleaning the rust would be a waste of time considering the lack of initial value and the possibility of damage.

Sunday, November 21, 2010

The last of a trio of Euro coins I found and it is as common as most Euros. These 2 cent Euros are quite small and I do not see them as often.

Not much else special about this coins so let us go to the pictures.

I used an LED (light-emitting diode) to show off the coin. It was not good, I thought fluorescent lighting was bad but LED technology has not reached the natural light levels that incandescent bulbs have today. The sun is still the best for photographing, at least for me.

Sunday, November 07, 2010

Do you have a coin from France and want to know its value? Leave a comment

Another little tiny Euro cent which is odd since it is smaller than a United States cent and I found a few over the past year in my change. Unlike the last Euro cent last time I found this one is less common but at 300 million plus minted it is not special.

The one thing I like about these French Euros is the description most books give to the obverse, Human Face. Yup, just human face not Liberty or woman.

Saturday, October 23, 2010

Do you have a Euro from Italy and want to know its value? Leave a comment

This little Euro is one of several I found over a month ago then the finds stopped. Not sure what happened but it seems that my area has exhausted the current "funny money" supply. Starting in December the tourist will swarm the city and start leaving more impressive coins...I hope.

Still this little Euro is nice and I will stretch the few finds I have over the next weeks.

This is the second most common of all Euro coins with a mintage over 1.3 billion. The obverse has the Castle del Monte, a famed 13th century castle on top of a mountain. The small R is for the Rome mint and the small E over D is for Eugenio Drutti the designer of the obverse.

The reverse has the value and the typical Euro design created by Luc Luycx with his initials next to the globe.

Monday, October 11, 2010

Do you have a Canadian cent and want to know its value? Leave a comment

I get a lot of questions about this particular cent. Apparently when most people see a commemorative they forget that although the design is new the production stays virtually the same. These coins are made for amateur collectors and it keeps the future value low.

Confusion also sets in with the dual dates. Since Canada never made an 1867 cent when people tell me they found an 1867 cent I must explain over and over again how that is not possible.

The front has the tiara portrait version of Queen Elizabeth II but this one is damaged so all the words are almost scraped off.
The reverse has the centennial design with the dual date (1867-1967) and a rock dove in flight.

I would add that it has been years since I found this particular coin and within two weeks I found two in my change. Along with that I found a another 1944 U.S. cent, a 2004-P Canada dime, and a 1947 U.S. nickel all of them are so common that I am finding them every few months. I refused to take pictures of them again.

Do you have a cent form Canada and want to know its value? Leave a comment/question and I will do my best to find out the price and history for you.

Saturday, September 25, 2010

So I am a bit late in getting this book. Since this book came out in April of this year I just been waiting for either a price drop or an extra $20 to justify the purchase. I did not expect a major improvement from any other red book but as a collector I could not skip a year, it's a bad habit I am breaking with the 2011 World Coins Book.

A Guide Book of United States Coins 2011: The Official Redbook the 64th edition is spiral bound is what I bought. While hunting online I saw they have leather bound editions that are $70, journal editions with tabs I assume for recording your own notes, and a professional edition with expanded prices and varieties. Unfortunately I want to see these in person but no local stores have these. Once I saw the Professional edition but I saw no real difference with the regular edition.

What's new?

434 pages of less-pastel goodness each section is color coded but they changed it from the last year to a darker motif

Changed the term "whizzed" to "buffed", this one made me laugh

Many early coins lost values

Draped bust images was moved or resized

Most post-1800 coins have gained value

Better 2009 Lincoln cents images were added

Added the 2010 to date Cent

Added 1824 & 1827 Flat and Pointed Top 1 images for dimes

Changed 2009 quarters images

Added a list for the Parks quarters and changed the end date from 2020 to 2021

Added 1887/6 image for silver dollars

Sacagawea dollars end in 2008 and a new Native American dollars section was added

Updated the latest presidential dollars

More realistic and updated commemorative images

Better Misstruck and Error chart with the change of number to word references

Complete elimination of the Significant U.S. Mint Error section

Free gift final page is back

Disappointments

Still no explanation of the edge lettering position for dollars although the pictures has them head-side up.

Overall
Rare coins went up, most pre-1800 coins went down, and most newer coins gained in value. Format has not changed and they use there limited space wisely.

If you have any of the Red Books from the last few years no need to upgrade just adjust for metal prices.
If you do not own one wait until the 2012 because rumor is it will be out by February.

Do you have a U.S. coin and want to know its book value? Leave a comment/question and I will do my best to find out the price and history for you.El

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

So this is a common coin barely worth the time to write this post. That said at least I got a 2010 nickel seeing how I yet to find a 2009 U.S. nickel.

I know last year was a slow production year but come on hoarders these 2009 nickels are not that rare. Let them flow into circulation. 2010 coins are flowing fast although I have not found any National Park quarters which seems odd.

Type/Country: 5 Cents / United States of AmericaYear: 2010 PMintage: 147,840,000 as of this AugustMetal: 75% copper 25% nickelValue:$0.05

I had an interesting conversation with one commenter who said in Russia his buckets of Rubles gets nothing over face value like my nickels in the U.S. This is true but even in average grade I think most coin collector would pay a little extra for coins from other countries. It would be great to search through common Russian coins as I think someone in Russia would love to get dozens of state quarters that we find common.

In short trading coins sounds better everyday.

Do you have a nickel and want to know its value? Leave a comment/question and I will do my best to find out the price and history for you.

Saturday, September 11, 2010

Before people barely talked about the twin towers, unofficially they were an eyesore. No talked about a field in Pennsylvania. A few people talked about the Pentagon but with little sadness.

Before

During that day 19 Muslim extremists with hate in their hearts decide to kill and hurt and tried to forever change the American way of life.

During

After the people, mostly non-New Yorkers or non-Pentagon employees, decided that anger was good but being petty was better. First you had the greedy wives, then the deniers who swarmed the internet with foolish conspiracies. After a while you got the phony sick who spent 30 years smoking and then spent 2 weeks many blocks away from the site and whined their way to millions. Now you have the exploiters who seek to use the day to win elections or plug their church/mosque.

After

Still they tested the tribute in lights on Sept 10 while having no building to walk into on the 11th.

Sunday, August 29, 2010

Do you have an Australian coin and want to know its value? Leave a comment/question

It is the size of a quarter.
It is the weight of a quarter.
But this is not a U.S. quarter that I recently found in my change.

At this point with all the state, territory, bicentennial, and eagle quarters circulating it is not to clear how a quarter should look like. Although I'm thinking the Queen and a giant 10 would give most people a clue.

Still this Australian dime passed quite easily as quarter.

Here are the stats for this coin...Type / Country: 10 Cents / AustraliaYear: 1989Mintage: 45,000,000Metal: Copper-nickelValue:$0.25 in XF (this one is less than XF)

Do you have an Australian coin and want to know its value? Leave a comment/question and I will do my best to find out the price and history for you.

Saturday, August 21, 2010

Last time I found a Where's George note I kind of went on a rant. To recap it is a site where people stamp notes in order to track them, which I found slightly offensive.

At this point I will not say much but this note I found it typical of Where's George note. Meaning it is fairly
new yet in horrible shape. I do not know if the stampers only doing this to old notes or people tend to manhandle the note more when they try to identify the stamp.

This stamp is says:

LOG ON

IT IS

FUN

&

FREE

www.WHERESGEORGE.COM

With boxes around the series year and serial number. Again I partially blocked the number to keep the game going, yes even though I am not a fan I do not feel like ruining someone's fun.

The bill was first entered in Illinois back in March of 2008 later that same year it ended up in Vermont then almost two years of travel it ended up here with me, which I will pass on. The bill has traveled about 1,000 miles so far but I doubt it will last another three years.

From the initial user profile here is Blimey's stats:

Bills Entered:

4,222

Hit Rate:

13.48%

Bills with Hits:

569

Total Hits:

684

Days of Inactivity:

0

George Score:

941.87

Wilds Found:

13

Overall Rank:

2,973

State Rank (Illinois)

115

State Percentile :

97.98

This guy is not as obsessed with stamping notes as others on the site.l

Here's the original stats...Type/Country: 1 Dollar / United StatesYear: 2006Date Printed: June 2007Printings: 96,000,000Run: 4th from F19200000C - F25599999CValue:$1.00 in this shape

Do you have a currency bill and want to know its value? Leave a comment/question and I will do my best to find out the price and history for you.

Sunday, August 15, 2010

Do you have a Canadian dime and want to know its value? Leave a comment
Few people live long enough to see themselves on a coin, even fewer live so long that they need to update their official image.

Queen Elizabeth II is now on her fourth effigy. In 2003 the official effigy used by the royal family was changed to show a more mature Queen. That meant anyone using the third effigy must update it to version 4.0.

Since this happened mid-year some 2003 coins already started using the third image then had to switch to fourth. In most cases value is not affected. For the 2003 Canadian dime no official mintage has ever been given to either effigy so it is assumed they are about 50/50.

Now this post would be great if I had both versions of 2003 side by side but sorry that is not what I found. Instead I got a 2003 and 2004 with the same "new" effigy. I just wanted to let everyone know that another version of the 2003-P Canadian dime does exist.

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Do you have a Euro from Germany and want to know its value? Leave a comment

Euro coins have been more difficult to come by, I am assuming since they have been out performing the U.S. dollar and most other currencies that their owners are not just letting them go.

Note to the right of the 2002 date is a D. The D is the mintmark of Munich. Other modern German mintmarks are A (Berlin), F (Stuttgart), G (Karlsruhe), and J (Hamburg). The G mintmark is usually the least common but still not rare enough to raise the value above normal.

Friday, August 06, 2010

Water droplets and copper coins do not mix well, I mean they mix very well and that is a problem. They form verdigris which is a complex name for copper salts. Most verdigris on copper coins is a mix of copper and oxygen to form copper carbonate - CuCO3. Water from the air or direct exposure will cause oxidation and a layer of blue to green gunk.

Sure there are other forms of verdigris ( copper acetate or chloride) and they can even be distinguished by the brightness of the green but I already dropped more science than I usually do.

Water damaged?

So why the chemistry lecture?
Well when I found this coin I thought it was in great shape but a few spots on the front were not a good sign. Then those spots on the back showed why this coin was dumped into circulation.

It is also surprising to find verdigris kits on sale, mostly for gardens. People want to turn copper green, what a shame. I still like the Statue of Liberty but she would look cool in shiny copper although it may be unsafe to boats and planes.

Tuesday, August 03, 2010

Do you have a Canadian cent and want to know its value? Leave a comment

Woo hoo another Canadian cent. Okay so maybe I am not really that enthusiastic seeing how I have 11 more in a tin can somewhere. Add to that I still have not found a 1990 Canadian cent which is leaving a gap in my records.

Seriously I found nearly every cent from Canada between 1921-2010 and even some varieties but that one 1990 is eluding me. Some kind internet folks have offered to give me the cent for free. As nice as that is I want to find this one from my change. Come on I found the 1964 cent 32 times.

Sure 1990 had a slightly lower mintage but nothing drastic, 218,035,000 compared to an average 750,000,000.

Sunday, August 01, 2010

On Tuesday, July 12, 2005 I started this blog because so few coin sites existed online. Now it has been over five years and as you see in my links page many great resources are out there.

As of today this little blog has reached over 640,000 unique visitors, thanks for that. Also over 267 posts brought over 10,000 comments. And yes I responded to all.

The business side has also been good here is a graph on advertising income, plus it is in 3-D.

I will not retire off this blog but it does show what is possible if you post something new at least once a month. Granted that first year was rough but then again I am not doing this for profit.

Hobby Fun
That is why I do this. Even if I only have a common everyday Canadian cent I will post it (hint, hint on the next post). Even if I stop getting odd change I will just start posting on common finds.
There is something special about finding coins older than yourself or from another land or just shiny and new.

My favorite find was an Off-Center Georgia State quarter worth about $50.00. Not because of the value instead it just showed what was possible from your change.

There were many more bloggers that I linked to but most fellow bloggers give up after a few months or worse the go crazy. Apparently these crazies encountered people who are not of their same mindset and it drives them insane so they dedicate their time fueling internet rage.

I continue to update and change stuff around and the ideas I have sometimes exceed my computer skills but feel free add suggestions or tips and of course keep those questions coming in.

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